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Another work from home thread!

LegacyUser

**Mods, I'm aware that this is not a genuine work 'problem' as such, but I'm a regular Boardsie who would like to post anonymously for this question - or if this could be moved to 'Work and Jobs' and I could still remain anonymous, that would be great too!

So basically the thread title says it all - I'm absolutely DONE with my job, and in fact I'm done with working with the general public as a whole. I seriously need a break. I would like to not work at all for a while, for the sake of my mental health, but of course that is not really practical, so work I must.

I would quite like the idea of working from home, but the thing is, I have absolutely no idea what I could do. I'm not really interested in customer support type roles (please, no more people giving out to me!!), definitely not interested in any of those pyramid selling schemes, and I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I can do otherwise. I also don't have any desirable, marketable skill such as IT, engineering, architecture, even journalism, where I could freelance or set up my own small business. I don't have a marketable hobby or craft, in fact I'm not that creative in general. I work in general admin. I can't even think of a type of blog that I could set up and try to monetise.

I know this post is kind of airy-fairy and vague, but can anybody think of some sort of paid, non-customer 'facing'/non-sales work I could do from home, on a laptop with a current download speed of 26.9mbps (according to bonkers.ie)? Do people need or actually use virtual secretarial services or anything like that?...

Thanks for any replies.

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skallywag

You've listed a lot of things which you feel you cannot do, but what I am missing is what you feel you are good at? Where do you feel your strengths are, and in what areas have you positive past experiences?

Diceicle

What are your skills?
What do you like to do?

Can you monetize any of those?
Could you design, make and sell an online course or do a consulting gig?

LegacyUser

Thanks for the replies.

@Skallywag, as for what I can do, what am I good at, I think the only thing I have going for me in terms of making a living from home is the fact that I have good spelling and grammar, and am quite finicky about the presentation and layout of anything I work on. That's why I briefly mentioned being a virtual assistant, but I'm not sure if 1) anybody really uses these services, and 2) if they do, could I make a decent living from it. Does anybody here have any experience with these services?

@Diceicle, I would have no qualifications as a Consultant in anything, but thank you for the suggestion. Truth be told, I don't even have a degree.

Apart from that, I'm really quite stumped. I have racked my brain trying to think of something I could turn into a small enterprise, or some sort of website I could make a living from, but I keep coming up with nothing. I appreciate that it seems like I'm in cloud-cuckoo land with the idea of just 'working from home' without a clear idea of what exactly I would be doing, but I'm hoping that someone reading either has a suggestion that grabs my attention, or else knows someone who took a leap on something they may never have thought of before, and was able to make a living from it. I have worked in areas other than admin, but sadly nothing that would translate to an online or work from home service that I could provide.

I also appreciate that working from home is still 'work', and I'm prepared to put in the hours. I'm not expecting to earn say, €50k just by working a couple of hours in the morning and then drinking martinis and sunbathing all afternoon

I'm wondering should I do a course in how to manage websites or something...

OMM 0000

Learn programming.

I'm in IT and I can literally work from home every day if I want.

Currently I work from home once or twice a week.

Next month I'll work from home for 6 weeks. (I'm going travelling/holiday so will "work from home" during the trip).

Learn python and basic machine learning. With a bit of focus you can be up and running in 6 months. You will be in demand and will be able to work from home.

eric hoone

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Learn programming.

I'm in IT and I can literally work from home every day if I want.

Currently I work from home once or twice a week.

Next month I'll work from home for 6 weeks. (I'm going travelling/holiday so will "work from home" during the trip).

Learn python and basic machine learning. With a bit of focus you can be up and running in 6 months. You will be in demand and will be able to work from home.

Don't you need a degree or diploma too?

bloodless_coup

eric hoone wrote: »

Don't you need a degree or diploma too?

Ideally yes, or learn it for a lot longer than 6 months.

Securing a job, being allowed to work from home with 6 months of self learning is a pipe dream. At best you would be entry level and need to be in the office to train, assuming you could find a job in the first place.

Stheno

doylefe wrote: »

Ideally yes, or learn it for a lot longer than 6 months.

Securing a job, being allowed to work from home with 6 months of self learning is a pipe dream. At best you would be entry level and need to be in the office to train, assuming you could find a job in the first place.

agreed

OMM 0000

doylefe wrote: »

Ideally yes, or learn it for a lot longer than 6 months.

Securing a job, being allowed to work from home with 6 months of self learning is a pipe dream. At best you would be entry level and need to be in the office to train, assuming you could find a job in the first place.

Stheno wrote: »

agreed

It's not. I know lots of guys who do machine learning gigs on freelancer with only three months of learning/experience. They did one of those "nano degrees" for basic python / machine learning.

99% of machine learning jobs are really easy. It's literally training a model and a few lines of code.

Stheno

OMM 0000 wrote: »

It's not. I know lots of guys who do machine learning gigs on freelancer with only three months of learning/experience. They did one of those "nano degrees" for basic python / machine learning.

99% of machine learning jobs are really easy. It's literally training a model and a few lines of code.

what sort of pay are they on ?

OMM 0000

Stheno wrote: »

what sort of pay are they on ?

Not huge. Usually a day's work for about USD 300.

I've actually hired some of these people in the past...

One of the problems with machine learning, as it is right now, is you need to experiment with different libraries / training sets to see which gives the best results. So in my place (we're a machine learning company) we often hire a bunch of these guys to see what kind of results we can get.

They're often unreliable because they have multiple job offers.

It's kind of a mess.

Stheno

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Not huge. Usually a day's work for about USD 300.

I've actually hired some of these people in the past...

One of the problems with machine learning, as it is right now, is you need to experiment with different libraries / training sets to see which gives the best results. So in my place (we're a machine learning company) we often hire a bunch of these guys to see what kind of results we can get.

They're often unreliable because they have multiple job offers.

It's kind of a mess.

and is a days work based on completed tasks?

LegacyUser

I'm not really an in-depth, tech-y person, and I don't think I could sustain an interest in programming long-term to make a living from it. Thanks though.

Anybody else have any ideas?

skallywag

As asked already, where do you feel that you have skills, strengths, positive past experience, etc?

LegacyUser

I work as a freelance designer and work both in house and from home depending on the job. It took a few years building up relationships with clients/studios before i could comfortably work long term from home and even then there is costumer interactions as you need to hit up meet ups and events to network/remind people you are still alive. the hours can be really unsociable as you no longer have weekends and weekdays or bank holidays, they are just days. You have to be very good at managing your time so you don't end up having to work crazy hours. Often time projects will overlap so you'll have a crazy week or two and then you'll have periods of no work that you have to budget for. You have to be an accountant, manager, designer, etc etc all in one job. Don't get me wrong it's very rewarding but it's not an easy path

OP if you've no skills in IT or Design its not something you can just jump into overnight or in 6 months. You will most likely have to keep your regular job while trying to get experience in your free time so it will be a lot of work for a few years.

LegacyUser

skallywag wrote: »

As asked already, where do you feel that you have skills, strengths, positive past experience, etc?

Most of my work is service industry or general admin, neither of which I really want to work in anymore. TBH, I've never liked any job I've had - I've always felt like 'this isn't me', no matter what the job was. But the thing is, I have no idea what I want to do or be any more, and I'm far from a youngster these days, so I don't really have the time to 'find myself'. And I'm tired of thinking about it.

I need to earn enough to sustain myself and pay a moderate mortgage. I also want a break from the public. While I have no dependents, there is also no partner's salary coming in to help support me if I wanted to change careers or start over, or whatever. Apart from admin, there's nothing else I'm 'skilled' at, I don't have a background or qualification in IT or Marketing or Business, or any of those sought-after STEM areas.

I do however, work hard and I don't half-ass things. To paraphrase George Michael, if I do it, I do it right. The problem is, finding out what 'it' is that I would like to do.

I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm bunched without a marketable skill that I can use online - freelancing, consulting, whatever. W.A.H. may be something that I just can't do, in a very practical sense.

I'd appreciate any more replies or ideas, thanks

Diziet

Good spelling and grammar, and good typing? Look at transcription work - you can do that from home and the pay is reasonable.

OMM 0000

Stheno wrote: »

and is a days work based on completed tasks?

Sorry Stheno, I missed this. It is based on completed tasks. I know this isn't ideal, but there is currently TONS of day to day work for ML folk.

the whole year inn

OMM 0000 wrote: »

It's not. I know lots of guys who do machine learning gigs on freelancer with only three months of learning/experience. They did one of those "nano degrees" for basic python / machine learning.

99% of machine learning jobs are really easy. It's literally training a model and a few lines of code.

What are these nono degress can you send a link to one for example?

BarryD2

Re OP, if you're going to work from home - then you need to be self motivated. Doing the job is often the easy part. Getting customers, keeping customers, getting paid - these all require time & effort. To be honest, you don't sound here like you fit the bill? I'd suggest changing jobs/ employers/ office scenery etc.

OMM 0000

the whole year inn wrote: »

What are these nono degress can you send a link to one for example?

https://www.udacity.com/course/machine-learning-engineer-nanodegree--nd009t

Nermal

Write a machine learning algorithm that will pass the udacity course and then bid for the daily rate jobs. Your income will be limited only by the instances of the algorithm you can spin up.

cinnamony

Realistically what are the daily rates for ML work? I have an MSc degree in Data Sci and just sick of Dublin tbh

the whole year inn

cinnamony wrote: »

Realistically what are the daily rates for ML work? I have an MSc degree in Data Sci and just sick of Dublin tbh

Does anyone have an update on this answer.
I am tempted to do the nano degree .

thebiglad

the whole year inn wrote: »

Does anyone have an update on this answer.
I am tempted to do the nano degree .

See post 11...

JJJJNR

I'm currently trying to learn python and machine learning, I'm really struggling (doing datacamp courses) if anyone has any tips or resources please PM.!

LimeFruitGum

My former landlady used to do bookkeeping for the local pubs, and could manage it from home. Transcription is a good idea, if you want a task where you can get sit down and get on with it at home. Lots of marketing research interviews get outsourced to transciptionists/digital audio services for typing up.

You might be able to get some freelance work from secretarial services to tide you over. Plenty of people would love to have a well-organized person with good coordination skills handling their backend paperwork. Don’t knock it.

OMM 0000

JJJJNR wrote: »

I'm currently trying to learn python and machine learning, I'm really struggling (doing datacamp courses) if anyone has any tips or resources please PM.!

I'm sorry to say this, but if you're really struggling, it's possible programming isn't for you. Most people can't do it.

JJJJNR

OMM 0000 wrote: »

I'm sorry to say this, but if you're really struggling, it's possible programming isn't for you. Most people can't do it.

Thanks, your right I've completed 4 courses on datacamp and still struggling, I'll keep going though as even though I'm struggling im enjoying the challenge. I think the main issue was I took on to big a dataset. Crypto prediction modelling which covered all the historic data from the past 5 years of all cryptos.

OMM 0000

Why not just learn programming the normal way?

Variables
Conditional statements (if, case/switch)
Loops (while/for)
Functions
Classes
Advanced OO concepts

When you know how to program, you can then start looking at more advanced topics.

LegacyUser

Hi OP,

I saw that you mentioned virtual assistant work in one of your posts.

I actually do similar work on a part-time basis and you can earn good money from it. However most of the people I work with are outside of the country - it's not as well known in Ireland as it is in the US, UK, etc.

There are actually a fair few Facebook groups for established/new virtual assistants so I would recommend joining them. A lot of people that run these groups have websites and blogs on related topics and some offer free/paid training as well.

Best of luck!